1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to installing software into a computer system. More particularly, the invention relates to automatically configuring and formatting a computer system in preparation for installing a prespecified software program in the computer system, and automatically installing the prespecified software program and any additional software that may be desired.
2. Description of the Related Technology
There are manual procedures for installing software programs in a computer system that are cumbersome and time consuming. These prior art methods require the installation of a disk operating system (DOS) onto the computer and then the use of DOS based utilities to configure the system. A FDISK utility program is typically used to configure the memory space of the computer system and create partitions corresponding to a main hard drive memory space (C:.backslash.), a backup memory space (D:.backslash.) for storing "core dumps" in the event of system failures, and a system drive (SYS:.backslash.), otherwise known as the "free" drive, for storing application programs such as the Intranetware.RTM. software program manufactured by Novell.RTM., for example. In order to create and configure such partitions, a system operator must enter the FDISK utility program and input information such as the size of each partition, the type of each partition, and the type of system which will use the partition, etc. The FDISK utility program is well-known in the art. This process is tedious and time-consuming, especially if the system operator is not familiar with the meaning and effects of these parameters and the requirements of a particular application program which may be executed by the system.
After the memory space of the system has been partitioned and configured as described above, the system operator must reboot the system so that the newly created partitions are recognized by the basic input output system (BIOS) upon reboot. As is well-known in the art, when a system is booted up, BIOS initializes all devices, allocates resources and passes control to the operating system. Next, the system operator executes a DOS FORMAT utility program to format each partition. The FORMAT utility is typically used to format the hard disk drive of the system for use with MS-DOS. Additionally, this utility may also be used to format a floppy disk which is loaded into a floppy disk drive of the system. The FORMAT command creates a new root directory and a file allocation table for each partition so that files may be accessed for the purpose of writing to and reading from the files. The FORMAT utility program is also well-known in the art.
After creating the partitions, and formatting each partition, as described above, the system operator is required to load and configure proper CD drivers from DOS so that a software application program can be loaded into the SYS:.backslash. memory space from a CD ROM disk drive coupled to the system. The system operator is must choose the proper CD driver for the particular software application installation program, such as Intranetware.RTM. Install, for example, and to also make sure there is no conflict with existing CD drivers. Often, the system operator does not know which one of multiple DOS CD drivers to choose and this process becomes confusing and frustrating. Additionally, the system operator must modify the startup configuration of the system by entering appropriate commands and text into the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files.
Next, the system operator once again reboots the system so that the CD driver file which he or she previously selected is stored in the C:.backslash. drive (partition). The system operator must then ensure that the CONFIG.SYS file contains the command to execute the CD driver files. The CONFIG.SYS file is a text file that contains special commands that configure the computer's hardware so that MS-DOS and other software applications can use them. Typically, the CONFIG.SYS file is located in the root directory of drive C:.backslash..
After the second reboot, the system operator is ready to install the application software. He or she then inserts a floppy diskette or CD ROM disk into a CD ROM drive coupled to the system and loads the application program from the CD ROM drive into the free memory partition. The application program typically formats this free partition by creating a root directory called SYS:.backslash. and creates a file allocation table which lists each of the files used in the application program.
The system operator may desire to install additional software, such as Netframe.RTM. value-add software. To do so, the system operator typically inserts a floppy diskette or CD ROM diskette into a respective drive of the system. The floppy diskette or CD ROM diskette contains the additional software which is subsequently copied from the diskette into the system's hard disk drive.
For mirrored or duplexed computer systems, all or some of the above steps must be repeated in order to configure and format the mirrored or backup hard disk drives of these systems and to load the various software programs discussed above. This process is tedious and time-consuming. For a user who is somewhat inexperienced which such a process, the process can be quite daunting.
Therefore, what is needed is a fast and simple method and system for automatically configuring a computer system and installing an applications program, such as Intranetware.RTM. manufactured by Novell.RTM., as well as additional value-add software. What is needed is a method and system which requires minimal human interaction for configuring the system and formatting its memory spaces for installation of a prespecified software application program and additional value-add software so as to reduce the amount of time that a system operator must spend performing this task.